A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Helfer Skin Tap Technique on Level of Pain and Physiological Parameters during Intramuscular Injection among Infants in a Selected Hospital at Durg (C. G.)

Background: Every infant goes through routine immunization in which the child face lots of pain during each immunization. Diphtheria pertusis tetanus immunization is one of them which is administered intramuscularly in the antero-lateral aspect of the thigh i. e, in the vastuslateralis muscle intramuscularly. Several researches explicit that immunization is a stressful experience for the child as well as for the parents. During the clinical experience, the investigator found that immunization causes iatrogenic pain in the infants which causes them discomfort. Investigator also found that a very few studies have been done in this area in the Indian set up. Considering all these facts in mind it is very important to find the effectiveness of helfer skin tap technique in reducing pain in children during immunization. Materials and Methods: The research design selected for the study is a quasi-experimental research design with post-test only non-randomized control group. The conceptual framework was based on Nola Pender's Health promotion model. A self-structured socio-demographic data was used in the study. A neonatal / infant pain scale and duration of cry was used to assess the level of pain or distress in infants. A portable pulse oximetry was used to assess the physiological parameters in infants. The data for the main study was collected from CHC Patan, Durg and C. M. Hospital, Nehru nagar, Bhilai. The sample size consist of 60 infants, 30 each in experimental and control group. The infants were selected by non-probability purposive sampling. The helfer skin tap technique was done on infants of experimental group in which the investigator taps at the vastus lateralis site with the palmer aspect of fingers 16 times before insertion and 3 counts during the procedure. The data obtained from studying subjects were analyzed and interpreted in terms of objectives and hypothesis. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used for data analysis. Results: It was computed that 't' value in relation to neonatal / infant pain score was 4.2 which was highly significant i.e., greater than the table value (2.00) at 0.05 level of significance at df=58. In relation to the duration of cry the computed 't' value was 3 which was significant i.e., greater than the table value (2.00) at 0.05 level of significance at df=58. The 't' value in relation to heart rate was 2.2 which was significant i.e., greater than the table value (2.00) at 0.05 level of significance at df=58. In relation to the oxygen saturation the computed 't' value was 0 which was not significant i.e., less than the table value (2.00) at 0.05 level of significance at df=58. Conclusion: It was found that Helfer skin tap technique is effective on the level of pain and physiological parameters among infants during intramuscular injection.